‘Nothing will come of nothing,” King Lear mentioned. He was completely improper, I’m afraid. The reality is, lots can come from nothing. Extra particularly: nice life satisfaction can come from doing little or no.
You recognize who’s effectively conscious of that? Matt LeBlanc (AKA Joey from Pals), the king of 90s primetime TV. A TikTok that includes resurfaced interviews through which LeBlanc extols the fun of sloth is producing monumental enthusiasm on-line. The TikTok pulls from a 2018 interview through which LeBlanc gushed about how a lot he loved taking day without work after Pals after which cuts to a 2017 interview through which he mentioned: “I must be an expert nothing.” Talking to Conan O’Brien, LeBlanc defined: “As a result of I feel I wish to don’t a fucking factor. That’s what I wish to do. Simply nothing. Nothing. Zero.” (Identical, Matt, identical.)
Why is that this previous clip getting a lot new consideration? As a result of in a world that fetishises productiveness, plainly folks admire somebody unapologetically having fun with being lazy. Maybe extra importantly, nonetheless, at a time when it appears as if the wealthy and highly effective by no means have sufficient, however are continually searching for extra, extra, extra, it’s refreshing to see somebody be content material with what they’ve. Clearly, LeBlanc has thousands and thousands and is a family title, so it’s not like he’s making do. Nonetheless, having gazillions doesn’t appear to cease others from making an attempt to claw their method to extra, does it?
Have a look at tech oligarchs akin to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, for instance. They’ve more cash than God and as an alternative of quietly having fun with it they’re throwing funds at Donald Trump to allow them to attempt to get much more affect over our day by day lives. The one good tech multimillionaire appears to be Tom Anderson, the co-founder of Myspace. After he bought the location for baggage of cash, he shortly retired; now, he travels the world having enjoyable. He hasn’t tried to arrange some dystopian new enterprise or change into a politician. He’s simply having fun with life.
And have a look at the US authorities, which is filled with folks effectively previous the age of retirement who refuse to cede energy. US gerontocracy is so absurd that, final yr, the then 81-year-old Kay Granger, who had been a Republican congresswoman since 1997, was mysteriously absent from work for months. A reporter discovered Granger residing at a senior residing facility whereas coping with “dementia points”. She may have retired a long time earlier than, however, like lots of her colleagues, she appeared decided to proceed working.
The ethical of all this? Lots of people main the US must be extra like Joey from Pals. Attempt to take pleasure in retirement, please! Simply give it a go! Significantly you, Elon. Please attempt doing lots, lot much less.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
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